We will open the books. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called 'Opportunity' and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

~Edith Lovejoy Pierce.

I am grateful for a fresh new slate to start a new year,I am grateful for the healthy strong body, I am grateful for family that share my journey, I am grateful for life, for laughter , for friendship, for quiet moments to reflect on the beauty of nature and the crazy planet our world has become.

Reads the team-lead's mail. I replied begging her to allow me wear white shoes as I do not have a white shirt or dress. Turns out the shoe I thought was white is nude. The cream jacket I was banking on is now too small for me. I bought the jacket 4months ago, I see I am now gradually getting fat.

All the ladies turned up to the office in white today for the New Year's party. I was so far away from white in my green, gold and black ensemble.

Spent Christmas eve with few of the interns who were around in Hyderabad. Most of the interns are travelling during the holiday, most to the North.

Nigeria, Tunisia, Not sure, Mexico, Nigeria, Mauritius and

Brazil

Hong Kong, Nigeria, Mexico

Spent Christmas day roaming Hyderabad with an Hong Kong colleague and her friend visiting from Mumbai

I am not one for New Year resolutions, I don't even bother with them. I just go with the flow of the year and whatever it brings. Looking forward to the New Year, praying for another beautiful year and pleasant surprises.
Happy New Year in advance guys.
♥ Lara from Incredible India

On the 15th of Dec made it one year I landed in the incredouble land called India.
It has not been easy, don't mind all those pictures of me jumping all around, all those tweets and bbm status.
To survive in India; one needs emotional and mental stamina, especially the emotional stamina.
I remember the early days when I got so frustrated and wanted to just pack up my load and go back to Naija.

I remember my state of mind when writing the Cultural Difference: Definition of communication post. I have come a really long way from that period. Then I could not have even imagined myself extending for 6more months on my team. Going home in May and I would say this has been a life changing experience for me.

I wrote an article on my Indian journey in the Afroelle Magazine. Please read my story Hyderabad Life: The City of Pearls here: bit.ly/tjwClV

Christmas is in one week, but there is no single sign here, we do not even have any holiday. Merry Christmas in advance everyone. May the new year bring us many more joy, pleasant surprises and good health.

360 days in India, I finally get to visit this Palace on Saturday which I found out is just behind the Chaminar. The Chowmahalla Palace was completed in 1869 and I must say this is the only monument I have seen in India which is still as good as new with its beauty still intact.

The Chowmahalla Palace or Chowmahallat (4 Palaces) belonged to the Nizams (Former Monarchy) of the Hyderabad State. It was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and was the official residence of the Nizam.

My Visa Extension turned me into a regular customer at the FRRO office in Hyderabad.
I ran into old faces, new faces, made new friends, got toasted self.
Particularly interesting are my African brothers and sisters. They immediately jump into conversation with you simply because you are black, not stopping a minute to know if you are actually interested in the conversation or not.

I could tell the Nigerians apart from every other black community from the moment I set my eyes on them. The Nigerian swag can never be mistaken. With heads held up high, nose turned up, sometimes with amusement in his eyes and sometimes with utter disgust, the Nigerian observes his surrounding.

Everyday, people whine and complain about India, everyday the FRRO office is filled with citizens of the world coming to register as new entrants, extend almost expired and sometimes already expired visas and every other visa related issues. You have no business with the FRRO if you will be in India for less than 180days, so everyone who comes to that office plans to stay longer in the country. India is fast becoming an educational hub for IT professionals or wannabes. You find a lot of Chinese coming to study English in India, the Arab nation is also well represented. You find most Northern and Eastern (the Tanzanians are dominating India) studying here also. The Nigerian community is relatively small, but they are still a sizeable number.

On my first visit to the FRRO, I went to find out details of the Visa extension process. The official did not even waste mouth in telling to carry my head straight to the Ministry of Home Affairs (FRRO division) for extension. On my way out, some Hausa boy followed me to the bus-stop, He shall did introduction and all, collected my number...the boy call tire I no gree pick up call after our meeting.

One day, a guy came in to get his exit permit and upon opening the passport the officials found out that the entry visa expired 3years back. He had been living in India for the past 5years on an entry visa for 2years, I did not get the exact country but he is from one of them Arabian countries. The official was dumbfounded and did not know what to do for a very long time had his mouth wide open. Imagine that was one African especially Nigerian, na for police cell he go find himself before explanation.

I was in New Delhi from 10-13th of November, I must say I fell in love with the Nation's Capital. New Delhi is beautiful, despite all the crime story, I know it is a city I can live in if I had a choice. My trip to New Delhi was an all expense paid by the coy. New Delhi is actually far from Hyderabad, it is 27hours by train and 2hours by air. I had planned to go directly to the MHA office from the airport but unfortunately for me, there was some sort of Public holiday in Delhi on that day. I spent most part of the day sleeping, then buzzed up some friends who gave me directions to some of the tourist attractions in the state. I had dinner with a Mauritian ex-TCS intern who was leaving India the next day. Later that night, I attended her farewell party in a club called Zook in the Saket area of Delhi.

The next day, I was in the MHA as early as 8 for my extension interview. I was actually expecting to spend the whole day in the office but to my surprise I was out of there in less than 1hour. I had planned a trip to Agra which is about 3hours from Delhi the next day, but I woke up sick the next morning.I spent the day holed up in the hotel room with no friend or place to go to. In Delhi, I ran into a lot of Africans, particularly Nigerians. Some dude even immediately started speaking French to me, assuming I was from one of them French-Speaking African Countries. I guess there is a way, we as Nigerians identify each other, without even saying a word. All the Nigerians I met, I could tell from afar were Nigerians and immediately starts speaking Pidgin or just stop me and say, you are Nigerian abi.

The Visa extension process was not even as straightforward as I had thought. After my interview, I was told to go back to Hyd and await their decision. The decision was supposed to be sent directly to the FRRO number and I was to show my application number to the officials in Hyd and I shall be informed of the MHA's decision. I was fed up at some point, everyday something was needed, I had to get a new rent contract, change my address, landlord had to be physically present at their office to confirm that I am living in the said flat. I finally got my extension stamped 2 days before the entry visa was to expire.

In the process of all this wahala, I met this Iraqi, whose cousin had also attended the visa interview with me in Delhi. He is studying Bio-genetic something something,conversation with him was really good. He came to visit and sat with me all through the day I went for my visa stamping. We went on identifying people, I telling him which part of Africa, if I could not guess their exact countries and he identified all the Arabians. We talked about Saddam and govt of our countries. I was careful when threading Saddam Hussein's issue, I don't want anyone getting offended by my comments, because I can so misyarn sometimes. We met once for lunch on one of my lazy weekends, but I started giving my self brain when I heard "I would like to cook for you in my flat". Biko, hunger no do me reach that level. I know I have a prejudiced mind, but really I am just careful with everyone here even with my fellow Nigerians. I cannot talk ngbati ngbati story.

I was persuaded to attend the Nigerians living in Hyderabad meeting which took place on Nov 27th, 2 Saturdays back a day before the scheduled meeting. I ran into some Nigerians at an Ugandan Intern's farewell dinner and they sha will not let me rest until I agreed to come for the meeting. Instead of me to have jejely continue my sleep after the marathon, I carried my legedis benz to the Nigerian quarters here in Hyd.

The meeting was supposed to discuss the issues Nigerians face here in Hyd and particularly to elect new representatives for the state of Andhra Pradesh. Lets just say Nigerians been Nigerians, no election took place, in short nothing was achieved. All we had was people ranting, and people trying to beat each other up.

A couple of weeks ago, it was in the newspaper that some Nigerians were caught with fake credit cards and it was written that most of the scammers come into India disguised as student when they are actually committing crimes. Investigations revealed that the guys caught were actually Cameroonians who were in possession of the Nigerian passport. Their records at the FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office) brought this part of their actual citizenship to light, but no one came back to correct the mistake in the newspaper.

Whenever a crime is committed in Hyd, in India in general by a black person, Nigeria is the first name on their lips. I read of a case where some female student accused a Nigerian of introducing her to drugs in a party. I am not saying my people are entirely innocent, but really proper investigation needs to be done before making such accusations. The Indians are refusing to rent their flats to Nigerians. Black Boys are getting stopped on the road by the police and if you do not have proper documentation on you at moment, especially if you now happen to be a Nigerian, drugs is the first thing you' re are searched for.

I have really never encountered any of this harassment before, but this was one of the issues which was supposed to be trashed out at the meeting.

The week before, someone called for a meeting and few people showed up, infact 80% of the people who showed up on the 27th were not at the previous meeting. Election was held that day and some people were selected. The election was annulled because some people complained that there was no proper representation. I heard ish such as the Hausas were not represented, the Yorubas dominated the meeting, people from some areas were not present, bla bla bla.

There was also the issue of the past executives, of which the erstwhile president was silently been accused of embezzlement or should I even call it mismanagement of funds. The disputed amount is said to be 27350 INR which is 90255NGN on a exchange rate of 3.3NGN to 1INR.

According to the agenda prepared which was shared for everyone, election was suppose to take place first then every other business. They sha dabarued everything and we all sha found ourselves discussing issue number 2. I swear I have never seen any magomago like this before. The erstwhile president who has practically done nothing for long time, said he was resigning and by the power vested on him, handed over power to his Vice President. The Vice President too, feeling power hungry was so happy to be wielding his power anyhow. Everyone started arguing left, right, centre. Some wanted the election to hold, majority did not even understand what the hell was happening and I was one of them. 70% were there to make sure no election takes place. I swear the meeting felt like an SUG meeting. Everyone wanted to talk, some people were shouting others opinion down. This our yeye habit of nobody is better than me, nobody can tell me what to do was very much in display.

After 4hours of ranting, meeting was adjourned till last Sunday with nothing achieved. Thank God, I did not waste my energy to attend the meeting this last Sunday because I was informed it was still same crap and still no election or way forward for anything.

All I can say is Nigerians, I hail thee.

N.B: I got my visa extended, I have not had internet for the last 2weeks and also just moved flats....everything has been crazy lately but all settled now.